In August 2002, a Nielsen // NetRatings report estimated that 13% of UK internet users are under 18. In November 2002, an NMK seminar examined the ethical, commercial and legal implications of providing digital media services for this market.

Ian Haynes, Strategic Technical Director at Cimex, began the seminar with some more statistics: 70% of youngsters over the age of 10 now have online access at home; 52% of children with access spend more than 5 hours online per week; and 4% have computers in their bedrooms.

This creates some big concerns for parents and other guardians of children's welfare. What are these web savvy kids doing on there? What horrors are they being exposed to? Well, it turns out that one of the most popular activities online is something that kids always found pretty horrific before the internet came along - homework.

Most youngsters access the internet from school, and after chat and instant messaging the most popular (or at least the most frequent) activity is doing research for schoolwork. Inevitably games and music also feature highly, but perhaps of more interest is that youngsters are increasingly turning to the internet for advice and information about those embarrassing and confusing issues that no self-respecting teenager would ever contemplate talking to their parents or teachers about - hence the success of the Generation Sex health advice site Cimex produced for Channel 4.

Helping children to learn online is a growth area at the moment, and with good reason. As Simon Fuller from 4Learning explained, there is a significant trend towards independent learning among schoolchildren, with an increasing amount of studying taking place away from school, and a greater amount of socialising occurring during school hours. Yet the Internet is not always that learner-friendly to young children, largely due to the sheer volume of information that is available: how helpful is it to a seven-year-old that Google can return millions of pages of data?

Two things the internet is good at are helping young learners to explore and experiment creatively to find answers to problems, and making unpopular and difficult subjects more interesting and enjoyable to reluctant pupils. For this reason, 4Learning focuses much of its attention on 'problem' areas such as science and maths, as in Gridclub's online 'bug lab', which encourages science students to create experimental genetic mutations in virtual fruit flies.

Simon Fuller sums up the benefits of educational websites:

• Extended learning time
• Increased communication
• Improved access to resources
• More independent learning
• Increased motivation

Threats

There are some grounds for parents to be concerned about their children finding unsuitable material on the 'net. Ian Haynes illustrated the point by taking a look at one the most popular websites among US children last year, an unlikely-looking affair called Color my Profyle, dedicated to the customisation of Instant Messenger icons. As soon as a user visits the site, they are bombarded with pop-ups advertising gambling sites - which are of course illegal for minors.

And there are more serious dangers out there. While the Daily Mail, News of the World et al have a tendency to sensationalise and massively overstate the threat, a small number of predatory adults do stalk unmoderated chat rooms trying to meet young people.

Security

So who do you rely on to protect children's welfare on the internet? Certainly not the parents, most of whom understand less about how computers work than their kids (80% don't know how to adjust security settings according to the DfES). Which means that to a large degree that responsibility falls to the publishers and developers of sites aimed at youngsters.

One solution is to create password-protected, ring-fenced surfing environments and approved portals for young people, complete with extremely tight security to guarantee that only genuine schoolkids can gain access. This is certainly effective, but it can also cost more to implement than the average local education authority has to spend on schoolbooks.

Such schemes can also be difficult for younger children to use. Channel 4's online learning communities for schoolchildren are hosted only by rigorously vetted former teachers, while the kids who use them can only gain access if their schools verify their ages and status as schoolchildren. You can't fault the security, but as 4Learning Educational Director Simon Fuller explained, the sites took much longer to build up high-levels of traffic than initially expected, because of the security features. You have to get the balance right.

Another approach is to use a combination of browser security settings, approved ratings systems and software applications such as ICRA, Safesurf and Cybersitter to guarantee the suitability of web pages. The W3C plans to introduce standards for tagging trustworthy content, but such schemes rely on the sites under review being rated in the first place - and as Ian pointed out, neither the BBC nor Channel 4 currently are.

Not that many parents or teachers would object to children using either of those sites, but that is because both the beeb and Channel 4 are highly trusted 'real world' media brands, and public-service broadcasters to boot. Brand values become incredibly important in this market sector, particularly when there is an educational dimension to the product, as adults and young people alike want to be sure that the information finding it's way into homework essays is accurate and trustworthy.

What Do Children Like?

So what kinds of content are most popular with youngsters? If we go back to 'Color my Profyle', the favourite of American children, we'll see that it teaches us two important things about what young people like to do online. First, they like to be able to customise their environment and to feel a sense of ownership towards it. Second, they love to communicate with one another (in this case via Instant Messenger).

The next thing you need to know is that young children are incredibly aspirational. As Ian Haynes explained, when Cimex tested the prototypes of Homework High, a site aimed at 5 to 16 year-olds, they found they had to revise the branding and illustrations until the site looked like it was aimed at the older end of the age group - otherwise younger kids didn't want to know.

The tendency young children display towards wanting to emulate older kids also manifests itself in an acute sensitivity and resistance to the idea of being patronised. For this reason it is essential to strike the right editorial tone and voice - one that manages to be entertaining, informal and educational, but does not condescend.

Related to this is the fact that sites have to seem cool, particularly if aimed at female 'tweens', who consume like proper teenagers and desperately want to viewed on equal terms.

Boys and girls like to experiment and explore, so games are always a good way to maintain their interest. The problem-solving, reward-driven ethos of gaming is also a very effective way of stimulating interest in learning, as both Ian and Simon were able to demonstrate.

Finally, kids like to be disgusted, particularly if it involves a bit of low-level gore. One of the most popular areas on 4Learning's Gridclub is a section about Aztecs in which successful students are rewarded with scenes of human sacrifice. Similarly, Cimex very successfuly promoted the Royal Institution Inside Out science site with a series of viral video clips showing gruesome sporting injuries. Although the developers found these a bit close to the bone (in some cases literally), the kids couldn't get enough of them!

In conclusion, Ian Haynes offered this advice:

• Create a trustworthy brand
• Contain aspirational content and role models
• Involve youngsters in the development process
• Strike the right editorial tone
• Explorable, layered and customisable content

Legal Issues

Clare Griffiths, a Solicitor with law firm Briffa, outlined some of the legal issues that apply to websites aimed at children and young people. The first problem is to work out what constitutes a child, for in UK law there is no consistent legal definition, and the figure varies between 16 and 18 depending on the context. Clare's advice is that it's best to err on the safe side.

Obscenity
Internet content is subject to the same restrictions as other forms of publication, which means that certain kinds of material should not be available to children under 18. If you are hosting content that's potentially offensive or obscene, you should ask users to verify they are over 18 before giving them access, and state this explicitly in your terms and conditions.

Advertising and promotions
Paid-for advertising on the 'net such as banners and pop-ups are governed by the Advertising Standards Authority, whose Code of Practice states that "Advertisements should contain nothing which is likely to result in physical, mental or moral harm to children, or to exploit their credulity, lack of experience or sense of loyalty." In addition, online promotions and competitions should make it clear that adult permission is required if prizes and incentives might cause conflict (e.g. holidays, concerts, animals and, for some reason, bicycles).

Contracts
Under 18-year-olds cannot normally make legally enforceable contracts, and can't be sued for damages. The exception relates to contracts for 'necessaries', such as food and clothing.

Data Protection
All the normal data protection rules apply to children, with the qualification that youngsters over the age of 12 are generally considered able to give their consent to processing their data providing they can understand the nature of that consent. This is a guideline, and it's good practice not to collect any data from children younger than 12. In addition, you should try to avoid gathering data that identifies children, think about whether it would be advisable to seek parental consent, and avoid storing data about kids.

Europe
There are as yet few precedents, but further laws may apply in a European context. Germany recently introduced a fairly stringent Youth Protection Act, in response to a school shooting in which the perpetrator was thought to have been influenced by violent video games. The Act forbids marketing material that may mislead or cause physical or mental damage to children, exploit their credulousness or encourage them to induce third parties such as parents to buy goods or services. Transgressors face a stiff fine and possible 10-year jail sentence.

Under the terms of the European E-Commerce Directive, the German Act shouldn't affect UK companies as long as their campaigns comply with local UK legislation. However, if the German Act is deemed to fall within the EU-wide Health and Safety exceptions to the Directive, UK marketers would have to take care with any campaigns aimed at kids which might conceivably end up on a computer or mobile phone in Germany.

About the speakers

Simon Fuller, Deputy Managing Director, 4Learning (www.channel4.com/learning)
After working in teaching for 15 years, Simon Fuller joined the BBC in 1986 as an Education Officer, working in TV and radio. He also wrote educational books, and edited two anthologies of poetry. Simon left the BBC in 1992 to join Channel 4 Television, and became Education Director of subsidiary company Channel 4 Learning, with responsibilities across the production and promotion of Channel 4�s resources for schools: TV, print, Internet and multi-media. He is currently Deputy Managing Director of 4Learning, overseeing the day to day development of the schools and adult education remit.

Ian Haynes, Strategic Technical Partner, Cimex (www.cimex.com)
Ian Haynes first developed multimedia teaching applications in 1992 while gaining his PhD. He is a passionate advocate of digital learning, and has been a key driver in establishing Cimex�s reputation for online learning. He has developed a range of products including Granada TV�s first web site, BBC initiatives such as Skillswise, and several sites for Channel 4, including Generation Sex, Gridclub and Homework High - which attracts more than 3 million hits a week during term time. Other clients include Arts Council of England, Film Education, COI Communications, DfES, DoH, Intel and Pearson Broadband.

Clare Griffiths, Solicitor, Briffa (www.briffa.com)
Clare is a specialist intellectual property lawyer with niche Islington firm BRIFFA. She has a wealth of experience in e-commerce and intellectual property matters and handles a full range of contentious and non-contentious work with a growing focus on advertising issues, especially online.

Take a look at the original event.